


The Dancing War

by Vivicent



Category: Red Queen Series - Victoria Aveyard
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/F, F/M, M/M, Takes Place After Broken Throne, The Dancing War (Red Queen)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-15 04:20:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28807203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vivicent/pseuds/Vivicent
Summary: Three years after the battle of Archeon, the Nortan States and Montfort live in blood equality. But even within comfortable lives, everyone feels another war brewing. When communications between two sisters reveal Prince Bracken's scheming in Piedmont, the fighters of the last war have to fight again to protect their new lives.
Relationships: Elane Haven/Evangeline Samos, Mare Barrow/Tiberias "Cal" Calore VII, Tyton/Original Character
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11





	1. An Urgent Message

Chapter 1: An Urgent Message

When Tyton reaches Premier Davidson’s mansion, he is out of breath. After spending several months in the valleys surrounding the city, traveling with the Premier as he campaigned for his third term, the thin mountain air feels like too little to live on. The humidity of late spring only adds to the misery, sending drops of sweat down his back as he finishes his sprint up the endless stairs from his new room in the barracks to his old quarters in the mansion. The rooms, a bedroom and a waiting chamber made of expensive materials he hated to touch, were almost empty. He’d taken almost all of his possessions with him as he traveled across the nation with Davidson, shadowing his every move like the threat he was. He’d almost exclusively left behind clothing, his extra uniforms that he didn’t need. Standing in the room that was never his, Tyton packs these in the standard issue bag given to Montfort soldiers: a camouflage knapsack with loads of pockets and secret compartments. Then he finds the note, sitting on the desk in plain view, written in Ada’s hand.

If you can, the note reads. Come see me before you leave.

The mansion is busy after the recent election, with new elected officials scrambling, most of them looking to consult with the Premier if they’re lucky or even consult with someone who will consult with the Premier. But the Premier isn’t in his office, and Tyton tramps through hallways stuffed with people to a shadowed room he thinks of as Ada’s office.

Ada, the ardent with perfect memory Mare found on her search so long ago, is almost always in the room. The room isn’t her office, but the office of offical communications and information. Leagues of briefs come in from Norta, the political leaders of the Montfort districts, as well as spies housed in hostile places. Ada reads them all, and because of her ability, she is one of Montfort’s most valuable assets and the Premier’s closest advisor, though she prefers to stay out of the chaos of the political meetings. 

Today, there are only two people in the office Office: Ada herself and a young woman dressed in the green uniform of a soldier. The room is lit only by the lamps set in each corner of the room, which cast strange shadows that jump with every move. The two women stand hunched over the desk and neither hear Tyton enter.

“I couldn’t crack it,” Ada tells the soldier. “It really was meant for only you.”

The woman nods and the long braids down her back bob with the movement. The lighting casts her face in shadow, and Tyton can’t tell the color of her blood let alone who she is.

“Do you know what it means?” Ada presses, her voice urgent. “She didn’t send the others in code.”

“I don’t. Not right now. She’s never used this code before.” The soldier leans close to Ada and Tyton can barely make out her words. “But I think she’s ---”

Recognizing the type of conversation he walked in on, Tyton tries to retreat. The shadows on the wall shift like living creatures and the soldier spins. The electricity flickers off. The three of them stand in almost complete darkness.

“Who did that?” Ada asks, referring to the lights, thankful they hadn’t burst. 

It was not Tyton. Before he can say anything, the soldier speaks. “It was me,” she admits, and the lights turn on. The soldier gauges Tyton with a wary expression. Tyton observes the flickering lights, thinking of her controlling the electricity in the room. Is she another electricon? The patch on her sleeve is not the same symbol as his, but something Tyton doesn’t recognize. 

Ada breaks the silence, snapping the tension like a bolt of static electricity. “Hello, Tyton. You gave us a scare.” Then she whispers something to the soldier. The soldier nods, takes a folder from the desk, and leaves, giving Tyton one last glance before she closes the door behind her.  
-  
Later, Tyton lounges on the bed in his new room. The room is as small as they come, barely wide enough for the narrow bed. Rafe, still in his uniform from training, takes up the rest of the space, lying on his back and humming to himself as he reads the note Davidson left for Tyton. But this narrow closet is for him and him alone. No roommates. A generous amount of light spills in from the small window, which looks out upon one of the training areas on base. Beyond the training soldiers is the Premier’s mansion, perched at the top of its endless stairs like a watchful hawk. 

“So you’re going to train with a regular unit?” Rafe asks, handing the note back to Tyton. Tyton nods. “How are you going to train without killing them? Look them in the eye and say lookie here, I just murdered you in my mind! You have to flop over and pretend to have a deadly seizure!”

“I don’t know,” Tyton admits. And he doesn’t. All he knows is that change hovers in the air, marked by the dark haired soldier.

“What’s on your mind?” Rafe asks. “You look more thoughtful than deadly for once.”

Tyton lifts a single dark eyebrow at Rafe. But after a moment he tells him about the soldier and her controlling the electric lights, leaving out what he overheard.

“Maybe she’s another electricon,” Rafe offers. “Did you ---”

The door bangs open, slamming into Rafe’s foot.

“Ow Ella,” Rafe complains. “That was my foot.”

“Are there any other electricons?” Tyton asks.

“I haven’t seen you in nearly two months and that’s how you greet me?” She steps over Rafe’s legs and then his torso and head in three steps before sitting on the windowsill, the only place left to sit in the small room.

“Hello, Ella,” Tyton tells her. “It’s so good to see you.”

Ella hugs him and then hops back on her window seat perch. “What’s all this about anyway? Fill me in.”

“Tyton retired from his role as Davidson’s political intimidation.” Rafe hands her the letter. “And he also startled someone into exploding lightbulbs.”

“They didn’t explode,” Tyton clarifies and repeats his story.

Ella frowns, repeatedly kicking her feet into the wall, just inches above Rafe’s face as she reads the letter. “There aren’t any other electricons. Not here in Montfort…” 

For some reason, certain Ardent abilities appeared in greater frequency than others, with electricons being one of the least common. 

“Long black hair…” Then, as if she has a revelation, “How tall was she? Like 5’6”?” Tyton nods. “It was probably Noemi Clarke. She’s a mimic.”

“A mimic? I didn’t know there were newblood mimics.”

“Well, there are. And anyway, I think she’s half and half.”

“Half silver?” Rafe shoots a meaningful look at Tyton. “How does that even work?”

Ella throws Tyton’s pillow at him. “You’re an idiot. It works the same way it works for the rest of us.” She turns and notices that Tyton is genuinely curious. “I don’t know her very well. I only met her once on Midsummer's Eve.”

“So she’s from Prairie,” Rafe muses. “And I thought your family never stayed in any place long enough to celebrate Midsummer’s Eve.”

And like that the conversation moves forward, with Ella and Rafe bantering back and forth and discussing all the news Tyton missed. Tyton occasionally commented as the sky lost the last of its color outside, fading to a deep navy purple except for the outlines of the mountains in the distance. After Rafe and Ella left, Tyton lay in his bed. Things were changing. He could feel it. He believes it is changing just for him, that the biggest of the changes will be training with other people instead of having them cower from him. He didn’t know the real change, didn’t see it striding up the long stairs to the mansion. Cast only in moonlight, Noemi Clarke made her way up the steps, her sister’s message held tight in her hand. In the morning, the base would know the basic details. 

They were at war. Again.


	2. A Proposal

Chapter 2: A Proposal

_ When I was Mareena, I witnessed the ritual of silver marriage proposals. I watched the same words reused over and over again in the making of empty promises. For silvers, marriage was for strong heirs and alliances between powerful families. Love was not even a factor, trust and compatibility not considered. _

_ This is different. _

_ When Cal asks, it is not in a courtroom in front of an audience of dangerous silvers secretly sneering and plotting. When Cal asks, it’s just us, wrapped in quiet darkness together, my head on his chest and his arms around me, holding me close.  _

_ “Will you marry me?” He asks. I feel the words on my neck before they sink in. This is something he’s wanted for a long time, but the thought of another wedding fills me with dread. I think of Maven’s wedding to Iris, and imagine marrying Cal surrounded by politicians I don't know and people I don’t care about, all of them there to witness the lightning girl and the former king of Norta. Like it’s just another show. I shudder. Cal must feel it because he holds me tighter against his chest. _

_ “Cal…” I say. I don’t want to say no to him. It seems like over the past two years, after we came back from the war missing pieces, that we’ve grown together, filling each other’s damaged places, healing into one unit. The truth is, it’s hard for me to feel my reasons when we lay like this, just the two of us. _

_ He feels my reasons, knows them as well as I do. “No one has to know,” he whispers. “It can be just the two of us.” _

_ This. My image of a tortuous wedding ceremony evaporates. A marriage without a wedding, without a show. A promise shared with only the two people making it. Just me and Cal. My heart feels like a flyaway bird in my chest. A single shaft of moonlight comes through the window, and when I pull away, I can see his face. I see bronze eyes, eyes I know well. Eyes I see more than my own or anyone else's. _

_ “Mare?” He asks softly. _

_ “Yes.” _

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! I know I'm waaaay late on writing a fic after Broken Throne but because of quarantine I decided to write this. Let me know if anyone is interested in reading more of this.
> 
> Thanks for reading,  
> \- Vivi


End file.
